90pc MPs are tax evaders and killers, claims Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said Friday that following the clarification by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) that the government had requested the Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to play the role of a “mediator and guarantor” between it and the protesters proved that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had no justification to rule the country as he had told a lie on the floor of the National Assembly.

Khan said that neither Dr Tahirul Qadri nor he had asked the army to become a mediator to solve the political crisis.

He claimed that 90 percent of the parliamentarians were tax thieves, killers and robbers and wanted to save their rigging not democracy. “If fair elections are held, they will not be able to contest,” he said.

He asked Premier Nawaz Sharif to step down after an ISPR statement had belied his claim in the National Assembly earlier in the day that not his government but Imran had urged for the army’s role to resolve the political crisis.

“Nawaz! You should immediately resign on moral grounds and apologise to the nation for lying in the legislature about the army’s mediation between the government and the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek,” he asserted while speaking to his supporters at the sit-in of his party here.

Imran strongly denied thathis party had contacted the army, saying Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan himself had revealed that it was in fact the prime minister who urged the army chief to mediate for resolving the political impasse.

Now after the director general ISPR had clarified the factual position and proved the prime minister’s statement wrong, he must quit as he had also violated his oath by telling a lie, Imran contended.

“General Raheel Sharif knew that I had received a call from his office after which we decided to respond positively and I met him afterwards,” the PTI chief said.

Imran said that during his meeting, General Raheel Sharif told him that he would guarantee a transparent probe into the election fraud.

“But I have told General Raheel that I don’t trust Nawaz Sharif and his resignation is essential so that vote rigging allegations could be investigated in a transparent manner,” the PTI chief added.

He informed the audience that General Raheel told him that Nawaz Sharif was not willing to resign. Imran informed the army chief that an independent probe into the vote fraud was not possible if Nawaz stayed as the prime minister, which was also against the internationally-accepted democratic norms.
The PTI chairman continued that he told the army chief that he would not withdraw from the demand for the prime minister’s resignation. He said those who stood with Nawaz Sharif to save the democracy should listen that Nawaz Sharif was also telling a lie to them.

On this occasion, Imran warned his party legislators who had not resigned yet to tender their resignations by Friday evening or they would be thrown out of the party.The PTI chief stressed he would remain in Islamabad whether the people showed up or not. “I have decided to win either freedom or death, otherwise I shall not move from here,” Imran said.

In another speech later, he alleged that Nawaz was in panic and was now taking wrong decisions and pointed out that he had no personal tiff with the prime minister.He said Nawaz feared if his rivals succeeded in their ongoing movement what would be the fate of his rule and his family business besides being deprived of commission.

Imran noted that the genie had come out of the bottle and now the monarchy of Sharif could not sent back into the bottle.The PTI chief referred to the establishment of first welfare state in Madina, wherein law was equal for all and there were no VIPs or special classes. “The state took responsibility of the poor and the weak,” he said and also gave examples from the tenure of the first two caliphs.

There were so many cases against Nawaz and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah, he alleged, that they would never allow the NAB to hold them accountable. Similarly, he continued, in such a scenario who would bring back Zardari’s money stashed in foreign banks.

Imran vowed to bring back $200 billion from the Swiss banks. He regretted that those in the assemblies became billionaires while the masses became poorer.

The PTI core committee also had its session at the mobile stage and later Imran told the audience that his party supporters would stage large protest rallies in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan on Saturday.

In a new Pakistan, Imran promised to ensure the supremacy of law and focus on fighting poverty and job creation so that the state institutions such as the police could not blindly follow the wrong orders of the rulers and open fire at them.

He said there would be uniformity in the syllabi without any discrimination between the rich and the poor. In this context, he gave the example of his Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital that offers treatment to the poor and the rich equally. He also mentioned the Namal University, where 90 percent students could not afford fee on their own and were studying on scholarships.

The PTI chief also promised to introduce reforms in the police department and the judiciary to the relief of the oppressed and poor segments of the society.